A little girl born with cerebral palsy hopes a £65,000 fundraising campaign will turn her dream of being able to walk into reality.

Scarlett Hewitt has been accepted to have a selective dorsal rhizotomy operation which will reduce the spasticity in her legs and enable her to walk unaided.

But this operation is not available on the NHS so her family are having to raise the money for her to be treated at the St Louis Children’s Hospital in Missouri.

Scarlett said: "I dream that one day I will not to have to use my walking frame or wheelchair anymore and that I will to be able to play in the playground with all my school friends and run around just like them.

"Sometimes it makes me so sad to sit watching them because it really is hard work when you have this condition and I get very worn out trying to keep up with them.

"Having this condition means that the muscles in my legs are very tight and often quite painful and therefore I am unable to run around in the garden with my two younger sisters.

"I am also unable to stand unaided and I need assistance to move in and out of positions.

"Please can you help me raise the money so mummy and daddy can take me to America to change my life forever."

Her mother Lisa, of Uvedale Close, New Addington, said her daughter’s life has always been difficult since she was born with a heart defect eight years ago.

And she hopes undergoing the operation will mean she can finally have a normal life.

The 34-year-old said: "We just want her to go through secondary school and adult life being spasticity free.

"The people that are helping are changing our girl’s life for the better.

"It’s going to change the whole family’s life and we would be able to do normal family things."

The money will pay for the operation and physiotherapy after the procedure.

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